Thicker Than Blood
by Kay Sylverice
Summary: Brianna has moved to Japan from America, to work for a major corporation as a graphic designer. As she explores her new city, she meets four men who run a flower shop and as she becomes friends with them, darker secrets begin to creep into her world.
1. Chapter 1

_**DISCLAIMER: The following characters from the anime Weiss Kreuz do not belong to me. I make no money off of my fanfiction; it's purely for entertainment purposes.**_

_It's strange, walking outside and remembering that Tokyo is my new city._ Brianna shrugged, but admitted to herself that it was unnerving to think that the cherry blossoms outside the window were thriving in sun thousands of miles away from Washington, D.C. So much was different about Japan –as though they never slowed down from work enough to have fun, yet there were more clubs and bookstores and theaters than American cities tended to have. The black-haired girl hitched the laptop case a little higher on her shoulder, and started the short walk to work. Looking around, she realized Tokyo managed to be both urban and beautiful, with parks and trees and flowers everywhere. The day was brightly sunny, warm, and the scent of spring was on the soft breeze.

A block down from her apartment, a large crowd of young girls clustered around a storefront. Excited shrieking and murmuring filled the air, and Brianna paused for a moment to figure out what they were so enthralled with. _I've been by this place before…It's really popular for some reason. _It was a flower shop, the "Kitten's House" – but it wasn't the flowers that the girls were exclaiming over. It was the men who worked at the store. Brianna stepped closer, intrigued.

The first glimpse the young woman had over the shorter females' heads was that of a tall, red-haired man, lean and stern, his violet eyes hard with determination as he attempted to push girls out of the way so that he could work. His voice was low and violent as he told them to get out if they weren't buying anything. A young boy, no more than sixteen, tossed back his brownish-blonde hair, grinning as he moved a heavy flowerpot. "Aya-kun, be nice to the customers!" The only response was a glare from beneath shaggy bangs. The front of the store had a single table with chairs, surrounded with flowerpots and displays of what was on sale.

Just inside the doorway, a slightly older youth sighed as he attempted to restock the refrigerator cases that ran along the wall with carnations and baby's breath. He was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, but he had an athletic build that made Brianna think of sports rather than a gym. His hair was a rich chocolate brown, and his eyes were a deep blue. But none of that was enough to make Brianna stop for more than a moment or two – she was turning to continue down the street until she caught sight of the man at the register in the back of the store, just beyond a table and four chairs.

His blondish hair was unruly and wavy, falling into his eyes in a tumble that would just barely reach his shoulders if he didn't have it caught back into a ponytail. His eyes were a piercing green, lazy behind a pair of Lennon-type sunglasses. He was wearing a tight t-shirt, showing just a touch of male midriff, and jeans that emphasized his long legs. He was leaning against the counter, looking deceptively at ease in his lithe body. A cigarette dangled from one hand, as he rang up an order with the other. The youngest member of the shop went back inside, just as she stepped closer, browsing at the flowers to cover up the appraisal of the staff. The boy stopped dead in the middle of the store. "YOHJI-KUN! How many times have I asked you NOT to smoke in the store!"

The man gracing the register counter held up his hands in mock surrender, stubbing out the cigarette in a smoothly practiced move. "Gomen, Omitchi. I was in the middle of my break when things picked up." Brianna smiled; the flowers' scent masked the smell of nicotine, leaving the air inside the store fragrant. Lithely, she stepped into the store, sliding between a couple of teenage girls who were discussing the redhead's attributes – apparently it was one of the few times that he wasn't wearing an orange sweater. Brianna's artist's heart flinched a little. _Orange with all that red hair?_ The black t-shirt that he had on with his jeans was a lot nicer – it showed off his muscles without being obvious about it. She noticed that their air conditioner was on, as the spring day was warm enough to wilt the lovely blooms.

She slipped past a couple more fangirls and landed on the other side of the store, near the roses. The little store had a selection that she had rarely seen, even in large florist shops. She was holding firm not to buy any when the rare silver roses in the back of the cooler caught her eye. Sucking in a disbelieving breath, she touched a hand to her stomach, stunned to find her favorite color. _Roses always have been my passion._ She shook her head a little, frowning, when a voice, along with subtle yet spicy cologne, intruded into her solitude. "Oi, jo-chan. Anything I can help you with?"

When she turned to look at who had spoken, it was the gorgeous blonde from the register. It was his turn to look stunned, but after a second he smiled, slow and sensual. "Yare yare. What have we here? A lovely lady, who's actually old enough not to be in high school? It's my lucky day."

Brianna smiled shyly, shoving her unruly hair back over her shoulder. "The crush of adoring fans gets that old, eh?"

He rolled his eyes at the girls filling the shop. "You have no idea. They're in here every day, and TWICE on Sundays – and none of them over eighteen." His voice was exasperated, but good-humored. He blinked slowly. "But what can I help you with?"

There was the beginning of an invitation in his eyes, so she turned away, sighing a little as she gazed at the roses again. "I was being so good. I just stopped in to look around, and then I saw them…"

He stepped closer, his body a line of heat against Brianna's back. Her fingers clutched the fabric of her blouse over her stomach. "Which ones?" His voice was as smooth as silk.

"The silver ones. I adore silver roses, and they're so hard to find." She sighed, turning to leave, careful not to meet his eyes. "I think I'd better go, before I give in to temptation and end up with a dozen silver roses gracing my new desk."

He smiled down at the younger girl. Even in her heels, she was far shorter than he. His voice was smooth enough to make her shiver. "A new job? Doesn't that call for celebration?"

"It would, if it were truly a new job. But this is just a new location, and I suppose that that doesn't warrant the same thing." He looked interested, so she expounded just a little, still not meeting his eyes directly. _He's dangerous, and not in any way I've felt before._ "I moved from America to work for Sarisho Incorporated– I do their graphic design work." Something flickered in his eyes, but she never found out what, because at that moment, he was called away by one of his coworkers.

The rest of the day was hectic, but she made it a point to stop in and look at the roses again on the way home. She was running late to her meetings the next morning, and had to take a taxi to Shinjuku. When she returned to the office at lunchtime, she found her secretary Mereii smiling at her. Brianna greeted her politely, and asked if there were any messages. Mereii's smile got even wider, and she motioned towards the other room in the office. "You had a delivery, Brianna-san."

Shutting the door behind her, Brianna spun around towards the desk. She saw the delivery that had been made and gasped. A dozen silver roses in a crystal vase. She stepped over to the desk and found the tiny envelope among the silky petals of the roses. As she opened the card, she hit the play button on her stereo remote, and the first gentle strains of 'Teo Torriatte' filled the room. "For the pretty jo-chan – to match her eyes – and to prove that anything can warrant a celebration." Brianna laughed softly at the note. It was signed simply 'Yohji.' _I can't believe he managed to track me down. I can't believe he bothered. I'll have to stop by the store and thank him on my way home. _She sat down at the desk to begin some paperwork, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Hai?"

The secretary peeked in. "Gomen, Brianna-san, but you have a visitor. He says that you'll see him immediately, but he hasn't given his name."

She sighed. "I'm busy, Mereii…unless it's Sarisho-san, I'd prefer you to schedule a meeting." The secretary nodded and moved away from the door. A few seconds later the door opened again. "Mereii, I really need to get these sketches done…." Brianna rose, staring, not sure if she was seeing things or not. The soft click as the door shut behind him barely registered with the stunned girl's mind. She didn't know what to do as the man, _Yohji_, from the flower shop watched her reaction.

"You got the flowers." His green eyes were sharp behind the sunglasses that he was still wearing. Her silvery eyes watched as he ran a hand through his hair, and she slowly nodded. _I want to be the one running hands through his hair._ She stared at him in shock, not sure how to deal with her desire. "Do you like them?" His voice shook her out of her thoughts.

"I…never expected…that is…I mean…it was…a surprise. They're lovely." Brianna finally managed to spit out what she was trying to say, and blushed, knowing that she sounded foolish. Yohji was grinning at the tiny girl. He moved closer, settling a hip against the desk and leaning towards her.

"So, jo-chan, are you going to tell me your name?" Teasingly, he brushed a loose lock of hair from her face. She blushed more.

"Brianna. My name's Brianna MacLeod." Brianna stepped backwards, a little nervous. He was so masculine, and he filled the little office with his presence. He smiled at her, stroking a finger over the petals of the roses. "How did you find me, if you didn't know my name?" She tucked some errant strands of hair behind her ear, curious even through her discomfort.

"You're the only new graphics designer for Sarisho, Inc. I found your address in the directory, but your name isn't printed." He pulled his sunglasses off in a smooth gesture and tucked them into his shirt pocket. "So, Brianna MacLeod, are you going to have dinner with me?" He was carefully looking anywhere but at his companion, giving her room to compose herself. _He's asking me out. What do I do? Should I say yes?_ He shifted, and his shirt slid tighter across his muscles, and liquid heat shot through her body. She jerked back a little, hand fluttering to her stomach, a blush staining her pale cheeks.

"Yare yare. I didn't think women did that anymore." He was staring at the blush unbelievingly. Brianna started fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

"I…I'm not…used to, I mean, I'm not usually…it's odd that a man…" She couldn't seem to get a whole sentence out, and the laughter in Yohji's eyes wasn't helping.

"Are you trying to tell me that you're not often sent flowers and asked out by men?" His voice was amazed, and he tossed his hair out of his eyes at the same time with a practiced flip. She nodded silently. "Stupid gaijin. They obviously don't know what to do with a woman of your beauty." He moved gracefully around the desk to where she was standing and took her hand. He brushed a gentle kiss across the palm, and Brianna shivered. "I'll pick you up here for dinner. Say around six?" He was already moving away from her, assured of the answer, when she managed to nod. Seconds later, he was gone.

Brianna spent the rest of the day in a blind panic over the upcoming date. By the time that Yohji arrived at six, she had been in a complete dither; all she had accomplished that day was dozens of sketches of the man. Cursing her inability to get him off her mind, she stuffed the pages into a folder and was attempting to stuff the folder into her filing cabinet, when Yohji silently walked up behind her and touched her shoulder. Brianna jumped, the folder flying out of her hands and scattering the sketches to the four corners of the office. As she pressed hands to an upset tummy, Yohji knelt and started picking up the sketches. She stared in horror as he paused, looking at the paper in his hand.

He glanced up at the girl, surprised, but she looked away, praying that he wouldn't say anything. _Please, let the floor swallow me up now._

He gathered them all up, and the folder, and sat down in her chair at her desk. He looked through every single one as the girl took a few shaking steps and collapsed into another chair. A minute or two later, she had just gotten her breathing together and was almost calm, when he broke the silence. "These are all of me." She nodded, not able to speak through the embarrassment. "They're really good."

She forced herself to speak around the lump in her throat. "You're an easy subject."

Yohji's gaze sharpened as Brianna met his eyes. "You did all these today?" She nodded again. He held one up. It was definitely him, but he was sprawled out on a bed, his shirt off and his jeans unsnapped, smoking and brooding. "A little ecchi, ne?" Her skin flushed with another blush. He laughed. "You're not real. You can't be real. A woman who can draw a half-naked man in bed but blushes?"

That made her angry enough to show her normal temper. "And why can't I be real? I have a very good imagination, that's why I'm an artist."

"Ah, but, jo-chan, you have the innocent heart of a pure maiden." He shook his head in wonder. "And I am the last person that you need to defend the female gender to."

"I'm sorry I'm defensive." Brianna's voice was quiet, nearly empty; as though she'd said the statement often enough that it was reflex. He tried to catch her eyes again, but she looked away, not wanting him to see the emotions in her eyes.

"You were hurt." His voice was flat. "You're still hurting."

Her gaze was pulled to his face. There was sadness there, and pain, and something else that wasn't easily defined. Involuntarily, she sighed, not wanting to have to explain. Not sure that she could get it out. "I…I was…attacked; nearly killed." Brianna stared at the rug, not willing to look into his perceptive gaze. "It left me with a…horror. You're the first man in four years that I haven't been terrified to be alone with." He nodded, and slipped the sketches back into the folder.

"Can I have these?" His voice was soft, gentle. _Why am I doing this? This girl…I shouldn't involve her with us. She's an innocent, a victim. And we're… _She nodded solemnly, her large silver eyes liquid with the possibility of tears. Deciding to go with his feelings, he took the folder, came around the desk, and slung his arm around her shoulders.

"Where are we going?" She cast a slightly nervous glance up at his face.

"I promised you dinner. And I know just where to have it."

Twenty minutes later, they were walking into the apartment over the flower shop. Yohji carried a huge box of take-out Chinese food, and Brianna carried the folder of sketches along with her laptop bag. The three other guys from the shop were sitting around the living room when the pair walked in. Yohji jerked his chin at each of them. "Aya." The redhead was watching the news, slouched into the couch comfortably. "Ken." The athletic one; Brianna could see that he was reading a soccer magazine. "Omi." The youngest one, laptop and books spread out over the floor around him, was obviously studying. "This is Brianna." With that, he strode into the kitchen with the food. Aya nodded, a confused light in his eyes, but headed into the kitchen without saying a word.

"Konbanwa, Brianna-san. Don't mind Aya, he's always starving." Omi beamed, his whole being infused with a cheerful charm. He was kind enough not to ask any questions. Ken nodded at the girl, mumbling a hello, then bolted for the food. Omi took her hand, towing her along after him while yelling at the others not to eat everything before she got some.

Conversation was lively between these men. Aya was nearly silent, rarely coming out of his shell long enough to speak whole sentences. Ken and Omi were much more talkative, and Yohji displayed an easy humor. The three of them bickered like children, with Aya rolling his eyes every so often. Brianna found herself opening up to them, giggling at their antics, joining in occasionally with a word or two. They were charismatic, and she couldn't bring herself to be wary of them. By the time dinner was over, she'd heard many stories about their flower shop. She watched them talk together. _They're close. Friends, certainly, but more than just that, as though they're all brothers. They put me at my ease, make me feel safe, protected. I haven't been this relaxed in ages._

Ken finally headed out the door, while Omi and Aya disappeared. Omi sat cross-legged on Aya's bed, watching the older man stare out the window. "Aya-kun?" Aya's purple eyes turned to him from the stars. "She seems so nice. I want to know her better."

"Omi-chan?" Aya looked surprised, brushing his hair out of his eyes and sitting down next to the boy.

"But she's everything we're not, Aya-kun. I wish she could stay with us." Omi sighed. "But it's not right for us to want innocence near us. We're not good enough for her love."

"Maybe…" Aya's eyes looked almost hopeful. "Let's wait and see."

Yohji and Brianna were alone in the kitchen, and she immediately started cleaning up the dinner dishes to give her hands, and her nervous energy, something to do.

As she stood at the sink, running water to wash the dishes, Yohji pulled her back to the table, sitting down close beside the younger girl. "Leave the dishes. One of the boys will do them later."

"Hai…Thank you for dinner. It was fun." She stared down at her fingers, clenched into fists in her lap. Yohji's hand covered hers.

"We didn't scare you or anything, did we? I know Aya can be cold, and Ken intense…"

"No!" The word ripped from her throat violently. "I mean…it's so strange, how comfortable you all are to be around." Brianna pulled away from his warm touch, and spread her hands. "You're all so definitely male, yet there's something about you…I can't figure it out. It makes me feel safe."

Yohji's eyes filled with that indefinable trace of emotion. Not quite sadness, not quite pain, more of a hunger than anything else. "I'm glad we don't scare you." He stretched his hand out to her. "C'mon, I'll walk you home. It's not safe at night on the street."

She nodded, accepting his hand. He held her close to his side as they walked back to her apartment building, and he left Brianna at her door with a quiet good-bye and a soft brush of his fingers across her cheek.

The next morning as she walked by the store, Ken was out sweeping the sidewalk. He stopped her with a hello, and handed her the perfect red rose he had tucked into his apron pocket. "Have a good day, Brianna-chan." He turned and disappeared into the store.

The morning after that, Omi was outside, heading out the door to school. He bounced by, pressing a quietly pink rosebud into her hand. "Smile, Brianna-chan!" He tore off down the street, as though he was late.

The day after that, to Brianna's great surprise, it was Aya who was outside the store. Without a word, he stopped her with one hand on her shoulder, and tucked a delicate blue rose just in bloom behind her ear. A tiny smile graced his lips, but he was silent as he turned away.

The next morning, she didn't get to go by the store, because of another early-morning meeting in Shinjuku. When she returned to her office at lunchtime, Brianna found another spray of roses on her desk, next to the silver ones. The bouquet was made up of blue, pink, red, and silver roses, with only a touch of baby's breath. She leaned in to smell their heavy perfume as her fingers searched for the card. She finally found it propped up against the back of the vase. "Please have dinner with us again. Yohji, Aya, Ken, and Omi." She tucked the card into her day-timer with the other one, and sat down in her chair to admire the roses. _Now I have their roses at work and at home, balancing between my desk and my nightstand. These four men seem to make quite a statement._ Brianna grinned, then looked up at the knock on her door. Her boss walked in at that moment and stopped in the doorway, surprised.

"I'm sorry to come in like this, but Mereii is on her lunch break, I believe." A slight man, dressed in an expensive tailored suit, Sarisho Takedo was distinguished in a way that implied old money. "Brianna-san, where did you get all of these lovely flowers?" He sat down in the other chair in the office when she gestured it was all right.

"I made some friends who live near my apartment. They have a flower shop, and they seem intent on sending all of their stock my way." Her laughter was a carefree sound that she hadn't heard in a long time. Sarisho's austere features made his smile all the more welcome, and he almost grinned at the young woman's happiness.

"I am glad that you are not regretting your move to Japan. It is always nice to make friends in new places, especially women that you can talk to." He leaned back a little in his chair, relaxing.

"Women? But –" Brianna stopped, unsure of how to finish that statement.

"You said that you met some women who run a flower shop, ne?" He tilted his head to one side, and she had a brief flash of Yohji doing the same thing. _Yohji looks better doing that._

"My new friends are male, Sarisho-san. They run the 'Kitten's House' flower shop just down the street from my apartment building."

"I see." Sarisho's expression tightened a little, just for a second, making her think she had imagined it. His body tensed slightly. "Be careful, Brianna-san. We don't want anything to happen to our best graphic designer! But I just stopped in to see how you were settling in. I should be going so that you can get back to work." He rose, and Brianna stood; they bowed slightly to one another, and then he left.

Around six that evening, just after Mereii went home, Brianna heard a noise in the outer room. She froze, holding her breath, as a cold surge of panic filled her heart. _The cleaners shouldn't be in until at least nine or ten…Maybe Mereii forgot something? Or…_ The doorknob started to slowly turn and the door open. Her eyes slid shut, heart beating faster with fear. It wasn't until the quiet "Jo-chan?" that she managed to open her eyes. Yohji stood just inside the doorway, a concerned frown crossing his perfect features. "I'm stupid, I'm sorry, I didn't even think that I might scare you. I called out, but you must not have been able to hear me. Are you all right?" _Damnit. I should have thought before I barged in here. _He crossed the room quickly, kneeling and brushing the hair out of Brianna's face. His eyes behind his sunglasses searched her features, as though he could reassure himself that she was all right just by looking at her.

"I'm ok now. I…I'm glad that it was you." She hesitantly touched his shoulder, and he tugged her into his arms, wrapping himself around the trembling girl, comforting her with the feel of his strong body. She cuddled into him, breathing in his spicy cologne, wanting to feel protected. Finally, though, he lifted both of them to their feet.

"You're coming home with me. Dinner will be ready by the time we get there." Startled, she watched while he gathered up papers and laptop and stuffed everything into her bag. It didn't seem that there was any choice, as he dragged Brianna out to the street and back to his apartment.

Dinner was a mix of dishes, as each one of the guys had made something different. There was a lot of laughter, and even Aya loosened up enough to talk. They demanded to know if she liked the flowers that they had sent, and they all had smug grins on their faces when she admitted that she loved the arrangement. "I never realized just how nice those colors could look together; it's not a very traditional design."

"Omitchi decided it would work. He's the best of us when it comes to unusual ideas." Yohji grinned as the younger man blushed.

Everyone lingered at the table after dinner until Ken yelped and bolted out the door, calling that he was late for practice. Omi saw the look of puzzlement and explained that Ken coached a children's soccer team. After his abrupt departure, the party broke up. Aya wished her a good night as he headed for his room, and Omi settled into the living room with his laptop.

Suddenly alone with Yohji, Brianna brought dishes to the sink, running water and putting in soap. She was up to her elbows in suds when Yohji slid his arms around her, tugging back a little to lean her against his body. He was tall enough that he had to bend down a little to press kisses against Brianna's neck. Her hands stilled in the soapy water, as she went limp against him, rocked by how quickly he was able to make heat explode through her.

His hands were gentle as he held her close, and tilted her chin enough to capture her lips in a kiss. It was powerful and demanding and gentle and rough all at once. Brianna groped for the dishtowel, and dried her hands so that she could turn and run shaking fingers through his hair and across his shoulders. The silk of his shirt slid across his muscular frame, and the warm scent of his cologne filled her senses. _Don't let go. Not yet. Let me stay here a little longer…_ But he pulled away and searched her face with his piercing green gaze, for once not hidden behind dark lenses. "I'm not scaring you, am I?"

"No…no, I don't think it's possible for you to scare me." She blushed again, and ducked her head a little. Yohji laughed, low and deep, and he brushed a kiss across her temple. He hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry…You were just so pretty, standing there with your hands all full of soapsuds, your hair tumbling down your back, and I just wanted to taste you." He stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair. His shirt rode up a little higher on his stomach, and Brianna could see each muscle. "I'd better take you home."

"Let me finish the dishes? You guys made dinner, it's the least that I can do." She turned back to the sink and started washing the dishes. Yohji's breath grew ragged as he watched her. She was so busy listening to see if he would touch her again, that she unthinkingly shoved her hair out of her face with wet, soapy hands. Water dripped down her silk shirt, and Yohji sighed. Brianna turned to look at him. He was watching her intently, and a glance that she couldn't resist confirmed what his problem was. His jeans were very tight, after all. She blushed a little, and redirected her attention to the towel she'd grabbed, blotting the water off of the expensive blouse.

"You're trying to torment me, aren't you, jo-chan?" Brianna stared at him, not sure what he was talking about. He pushed the chair out of his way and stalked towards her. "Unless you want to spend the night, you're going home right now, dishes be damned."

"Oh." She breathed in quickly, a little shaky. _I can see the desire in his eyes…As though he wants to eat me up. I've never seen a man look at me like that…as though I'm everything he wanted. _Her voice was quiet as she dried her hands. "Maybe I'd better get home now then."

Yohji nodded, and invited Omi along for the walk. They left Brianna at her door, and the only way she knew that Yohji was serious about wanting her was from the longing glance that he threw over his shoulder as he left.

"Yohji. You let her go." Omi stared up at the older man in shock as they walked back to the flower shop. He giggled as his teammate cursed.

"Is that so hard to believe, Omitchi? I do have some control over myself. And she…well, she's an innocent." He lit a cigarette and took a long drag. He stopped to look up at the stars as he exhaled the fragrant smoke. "She's…"

"Different." Omi's voice was suddenly serious, and his normally painful cheerfulness was subsumed by a look of pain-filled longing.

"Yes. I don't want to strip that from her. Nothing that pure can stay pure around us. I don't want the stain of blood to wash off onto her brilliant white light." Yohji crushed the cigarette stub in his hand and tossed it in a nearby trashcan.

"That's why we should let her go." Omi sighed and started walking again. He didn't stop, even when he heard his friend whisper longingly into the night.

"I wish we didn't have to."

Brianna's steps slowed as she reached the flower shop on her way home. As usual, there were girls six deep around the door. _I shouldn't stop. I should go home and do my work._ She found herself sliding through the crowd and into the shop. She stood uncertainly by the roses, not looking around.

"Brianna-chan? Is that you?" Ken touched her arm and she looked up. He was cradling a pot of flowers in his other arm, and his smile was huge. "What are you doing here?"

"I – I was just walking home, and thought I'd stop in." She smiled at him a little, and his grin grew. He tucked the pot of flowers onto one of the shelves, and took her hand, towing her through the store to the cash register.

"Oi, Omi, look who's here." Ken jerked a thumb behind him at Brianna, and the younger man's eyes lit up.

"Brianna-chan! How are you?" Omi came around the counter and leaned towards her as if to hug her. She smiled and hugged him tightly.

"I'm fine. How are you guys?" She smiled at the two of them. Ken was leaning on the counter beside her, and Omi was still at her side. They were both smiling like the sun had just come out after a rainstorm.

"We're fine. Yohji and Aya are going to be mad that they missed your visit." Ken laughed, turning the heads of many of the girls in the shop.

Omi giggled. "You'll have to come and see them tomorrow. Then they won't be cranky."

"Ok. I'll stop in again tomorrow then, on my way home." She looked at her watch. "I should get going. I have an early meeting tomorrow to show some of my new art." She smiled a good bye at the two of them, and started walking out.

"Oi, Brianna-chan!" Ken raced up to her on the sidewalk and caught her around the waist. "Have a good meeting tomorrow, ok?" He slid a silver rosebud behind her ear and smiled. "It matches your eyes." He hugged her quickly and disappeared back into the shop, ignoring the angry eyes of the fangirls. Brianna blushed, walking quickly away.

The next afternoon, she stopped in to see Yohji and Aya. Yohji was stocking one of the cases when she came in, and she startled him when she touched his shoulder. "Brianna-chan, you came back!" His charming smile graced his eyes as well as his lips, as pure pleasure radiated off of him. He hugged her tightly, brushing a quick kiss over her hair.

"I wouldn't want you guys arguing over my visits. Besides, I like seeing you at work." She wouldn't look at him as she spoke, but she was smiling. Just then, Aya walked out of the back and spotted her. "Aya-kun! How are you?" Yohji let her go, smiling as the usually icy demeanor of the redhead softened perceptibly.

"Brianna-chan." His lips almost tweaked in a smile, and his purple eyes weren't angry. He held his hand out to the girl, and she shook it. She grinned to herself to notice that he was wearing the black shirt still. _Thank heaven. I don't think I could stop myself from saying something if he was wearing orange._ "Are you staying for dinner?"

Brianna didn't know what to say. _Dinner? He's inviting me to stay for dinner? But…No, I don't want to make a nuisance of myself._ She shook her head. "I was just stopping by to say hello."

Yohji draped himself over her shoulder. "You should stay. Omitchi is cooking tonight, so it should be pretty good."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't want to intrude." She raised her hands and tried to step away from Yohji.

"It's not a problem. Aya's just cranky cause Aya-chan is away at school right now, and so there's no peacekeeper."

"Aya-chan?" Confused, she looked back and forth between the two men.

"My little sister." Aya did smile then.

"You have the same name?" Brianna hiked the strap of her laptop case higher on her shoulder. _Strange. Oh, this offer is so much more tempting than my empty apartment. I can't justify doing it, though. I shouldn't let myself get used to being around them. I…I don't want to get hurt again – I seem to set myself up for falls._

"It's complicated." Aya shrugged. Yohji shrugged and looked apologetic.

"I see…but still, I shouldn't stay much longer. I have a ton of work to do." The lie rolled off of her tongue as she tilted her head, trying to look sincere. "But I'll stop in again soon."

Over the next week Brianna found herself stopping in at the flower shop every day after work.On Sunday, she gave in to her desire and decided to bring her sketchpad with her, hoping to work in the shop instead of her apartment. The horde in the store was even larger than normal, and it took her a couple of minutes to work her way inside. All four boys were working, and she caught Omi's eye first. "Omi-chan? Is it all right if I camp out in the corner and work?"

"Of course, Brianna-chan. We'd love to have you here." He installed her on a stool behind the cash register and left her with Ken. While she worked, she chatted with Ken, and then Omi when he took over checking people out. Aya and Yohji stopped by the counter often to make comments.

The fangirls started getting jealous of the attention. A short brown-haired girl remarked to her friends, "Why is she getting so much special treatment? I've never seen her in here before."

"That girl's been in every day this week. You've had your club after school. All the guys seem to know her really well."

"How dare she try to get close to them? She's not even that pretty."

"It's not fair, letting her stay even though she's not buying anything. We get yelled at all the time for that."

Aya heard the girls, and his glare silenced them. "Brianna-chan is special. You will leave her alone, or you will leave and not come back." His voice was calm and even; he didn't yell, or get mad, he just looked at them. She caught her breath at his completely serious tone. _Aya wants me around? He defended me…I didn't think he'd do that. He…protected me._ She watched him, her eyes wide with surprise, but he didn't say anything to her, or even look at her.

After that, the girls left Brianna alone. No one wanted to be exiled from watching the men work.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning as she walked by the store, Ken was out sweeping the sidewalk. He stopped her with a hello, and handed her the perfect red rose he had tucked into his apron pocket. "Have a good day, Brianna-chan." He turned and disappeared into the store.

The morning after that, Omi was outside, heading out the door to school. He bounced by, pressing a quietly pink rosebud into her hand. "Smile, Brianna-chan!" He tore off down the street, as though he was late.

The day after that, to Brianna's great surprise, it was Aya who was outside the store. Without a word, he stopped her with one hand on her shoulder, and tucked a delicate blue rose just in bloom behind her ear. A tiny smile graced his lips, but he was silent as he turned away.

The next morning, she didn't get to go by the store, because of another early-morning meeting in Shinjuku. When she returned to her office at lunchtime, Brianna found another spray of roses on her desk, next to the silver ones. The bouquet was made up of blue, pink, red, and silver roses, with only a touch of baby's breath. She leaned in to smell their heavy perfume as her fingers searched for the card. She finally found it propped up against the back of the vase. "Please have dinner with us again. Yohji, Aya, Ken, and Omi." She tucked the card into her day-timer with the other one, and sat down in her chair to admire the roses. _Now I have their roses at work and at home, balancing between my desk and my nightstand. These four men seem to make quite a statement._ Brianna grinned, then looked up at the knock on her door. Her boss walked in at that moment and stopped in the doorway, surprised.

"I'm sorry to come in like this, but Mereii is on her lunch break, I believe." A slight man, dressed in an expensive tailored suit, Sarisho Takedo was distinguished in a way that implied old money. "Brianna-san, where did you get all of these lovely flowers?" He sat down in the other chair in the office when she gestured it was all right.

"I made some friends who live near my apartment. They have a flower shop, and they seem intent on sending all of their stock my way." Her laughter was a carefree sound that she hadn't heard in a long time. Sarisho's austere features made his smile all the more welcome, and he almost grinned at the young woman's happiness.

"I am glad that you are not regretting your move to Japan. It is always nice to make friends in new places, especially women that you can talk to." He leaned back a little in his chair, relaxing.

"Women? But –" Brianna stopped, unsure of how to finish that statement.

"You said that you met some women who run a flower shop, ne?" He tilted his head to one side, and she had a brief flash of Yohji doing the same thing. _Yohji looks better doing that._

"My new friends are male, Sarisho-san. They run the 'Kitten's House' flower shop just down the street from my apartment building."

"I see." Sarisho's expression tightened a little, just for a second, making her think she had imagined it. His body tensed slightly. "Be careful, Brianna-san. We don't want anything to happen to our best graphic designer! But I just stopped in to see how you were settling in. I should be going so that you can get back to work." He rose, and Brianna stood; they bowed slightly to one another, and then he left.

Around six that evening, just after Mereii went home, Brianna heard a noise in the outer room. She froze, holding her breath, as a cold surge of panic filled her heart. _The cleaners shouldn't be in until at least nine or ten…Maybe Mereii forgot something? Or…_ The doorknob started to slowly turn and the door open. Her eyes slid shut, heart beating faster with fear. It wasn't until the quiet "Jo-chan?" that she managed to open her eyes. Yohji stood just inside the doorway, a concerned frown crossing his perfect features. "I'm stupid, I'm sorry, I didn't even think that I might scare you. I called out, but you must not have been able to hear me. Are you all right?" _Damnit. I should have thought before I barged in here. _He crossed the room quickly, kneeling and brushing the hair out of Brianna's face. His eyes behind his sunglasses searched her features, as though he could reassure himself that she was all right just by looking at her.

"I'm ok now. I…I'm glad that it was you." She hesitantly touched his shoulder, and he tugged her into his arms, wrapping himself around the trembling girl, comforting her with the feel of his strong body. She cuddled into him, breathing in his spicy cologne, wanting to feel protected. Finally, though, he lifted both of them to their feet.

"You're coming home with me. Dinner will be ready by the time we get there." Startled, she watched while he gathered up papers and laptop and stuffed everything into her bag. It didn't seem that there was any choice, as he dragged Brianna out to the street and back to his apartment.

Dinner was a mix of dishes, as each one of the guys had made something different. There was a lot of laughter, and even Aya loosened up enough to talk. They demanded to know if she liked the flowers that they had sent, and they all had smug grins on their faces when she admitted that she loved the arrangement. "I never realized just how nice those colors could look together; it's not a very traditional design."

"Omitchi decided it would work. He's the best of us when it comes to unusual ideas." Yohji grinned as the younger man blushed.

Everyone lingered at the table after dinner until Ken yelped and bolted out the door, calling that he was late for practice. Omi saw the look of puzzlement and explained that Ken coached a children's soccer team. After his abrupt departure, the party broke up. Aya wished her a good night as he headed for his room, and Omi settled into the living room with his laptop.

Suddenly alone with Yohji, Brianna brought dishes to the sink, running water and putting in soap. She was up to her elbows in suds when Yohji slid his arms around her, tugging back a little to lean her against his body. He was tall enough that he had to bend down a little to press kisses against Brianna's neck. Her hands stilled in the soapy water, as she went limp against him, rocked by how quickly he was able to make heat explode through her.

His hands were gentle as he held her close, and tilted her chin enough to capture her lips in a kiss. It was powerful and demanding and gentle and rough all at once. Brianna groped for the dishtowel, and dried her hands so that she could turn and run shaking fingers through his hair and across his shoulders. The silk of his shirt slid across his muscular frame, and the warm scent of his cologne filled her senses. _Don't let go. Not yet. Let me stay here a little longer…_ But he pulled away and searched her face with his piercing green gaze, for once not hidden behind dark lenses. "I'm not scaring you, am I?"

"No…no, I don't think it's possible for you to scare me." She blushed again, and ducked her head a little. Yohji laughed, low and deep, and he brushed a kiss across her temple. He hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry…You were just so pretty, standing there with your hands all full of soapsuds, your hair tumbling down your back, and I just wanted to taste you." He stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair. His shirt rode up a little higher on his stomach, and Brianna could see each muscle. "I'd better take you home."

"Let me finish the dishes? You guys made dinner, it's the least that I can do." She turned back to the sink and started washing the dishes. Yohji's breath grew ragged as he watched her. She was so busy listening to see if he would touch her again, that she unthinkingly shoved her hair out of her face with wet, soapy hands. Water dripped down her silk shirt, and Yohji sighed. Brianna turned to look at him. He was watching her intently, and a glance that she couldn't resist confirmed what his problem was. His jeans were very tight, after all. She blushed a little, and redirected her attention to the towel she'd grabbed, blotting the water off of the expensive blouse.

"You're trying to torment me, aren't you, jo-chan?" Brianna stared at him, not sure what he was talking about. He pushed the chair out of his way and stalked towards her. "Unless you want to spend the night, you're going home right now, dishes be damned."

"Oh." She breathed in quickly, a little shaky. _I can see the desire in his eyes…As though he wants to eat me up. I've never seen a man look at me like that…as though I'm everything he wanted. _Her voice was quiet as she dried her hands. "Maybe I'd better get home now then."

Yohji nodded, and invited Omi along for the walk. They left Brianna at her door, and the only way she knew that Yohji was serious about wanting her was from the longing glance that he threw over his shoulder as he left.

"Yohji. You let her go." Omi stared up at the older man in shock as they walked back to the flower shop. He giggled as his teammate cursed.

"Is that so hard to believe, Omitchi? I do have some control over myself. And she…well, she's an innocent." He lit a cigarette and took a long drag. He stopped to look up at the stars as he exhaled the fragrant smoke. "She's…"

"Different." Omi's voice was suddenly serious, and his normally painful cheerfulness was subsumed by a look of pain-filled longing.

"Yes. I don't want to strip that from her. Nothing that pure can stay pure around us. I don't want the stain of blood to wash off onto her brilliant white light." Yohji crushed the cigarette stub in his hand and tossed it in a nearby trashcan.

"That's why we should let her go." Omi sighed and started walking again. He didn't stop, even when he heard his friend whisper longingly into the night.

"I wish we didn't have to."

Brianna's steps slowed as she reached the flower shop on her way home. As usual, there were girls six deep around the door. _I shouldn't stop. I should go home and do my work._ She found herself sliding through the crowd and into the shop. She stood uncertainly by the roses, not looking around.

"Brianna-chan? Is that you?" Ken touched her arm and she looked up. He was cradling a pot of flowers in his other arm, and his smile was huge. "What are you doing here?"

"I – I was just walking home, and thought I'd stop in." She smiled at him a little, and his grin grew. He tucked the pot of flowers onto one of the shelves, and took her hand, towing her through the store to the cash register.

"Oi, Omi, look who's here." Ken jerked a thumb behind him at Brianna, and the younger man's eyes lit up.

"Brianna-chan! How are you?" Omi came around the counter and leaned towards her as if to hug her. She smiled and hugged him tightly.

"I'm fine. How are you guys?" She smiled at the two of them. Ken was leaning on the counter beside her, and Omi was still at her side. They were both smiling like the sun had just come out after a rainstorm.

"We're fine. Yohji and Aya are going to be mad that they missed your visit." Ken laughed, turning the heads of many of the girls in the shop.

Omi giggled. "You'll have to come and see them tomorrow. Then they won't be cranky."

"Ok. I'll stop in again tomorrow then, on my way home." She looked at her watch. "I should get going. I have an early meeting tomorrow to show some of my new art." She smiled a good bye at the two of them, and started walking out.

"Oi, Brianna-chan!" Ken raced up to her on the sidewalk and caught her around the waist. "Have a good meeting tomorrow, ok?" He slid a silver rosebud behind her ear and smiled. "It matches your eyes." He hugged her quickly and disappeared back into the shop, ignoring the angry eyes of the fangirls. Brianna blushed, walking quickly away.

The next afternoon, she stopped in to see Yohji and Aya. Yohji was stocking one of the cases when she came in, and she startled him when she touched his shoulder. "Brianna-chan, you came back!" His charming smile graced his eyes as well as his lips, as pure pleasure radiated off of him. He hugged her tightly, brushing a quick kiss over her hair.

"I wouldn't want you guys arguing over my visits. Besides, I like seeing you at work." She wouldn't look at him as she spoke, but she was smiling. Just then, Aya walked out of the back and spotted her. "Aya-kun! How are you?" Yohji let her go, smiling as the usually icy demeanor of the redhead softened perceptibly.

"Brianna-chan." His lips almost tweaked in a smile, and his purple eyes weren't angry. He held his hand out to the girl, and she shook it. She grinned to herself to notice that he was wearing the black shirt still. _Thank heaven. I don't think I could stop myself from saying something if he was wearing orange._ "Are you staying for dinner?"

Brianna didn't know what to say. _Dinner? He's inviting me to stay for dinner? But…No, I don't want to make a nuisance of myself._ She shook her head. "I was just stopping by to say hello."

Yohji draped himself over her shoulder. "You should stay. Omitchi is cooking tonight, so it should be pretty good."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't want to intrude." She raised her hands and tried to step away from Yohji.

"It's not a problem. Aya's just cranky cause Aya-chan is away at school right now, and so there's no peacekeeper."

"Aya-chan?" Confused, she looked back and forth between the two men.

"My little sister." Aya did smile then.

"You have the same name?" Brianna hiked the strap of her laptop case higher on her shoulder. _Strange. Oh, this offer is so much more tempting than my empty apartment. I can't justify doing it, though. I shouldn't let myself get used to being around them. I…I don't want to get hurt again – I seem to set myself up for falls._

"It's complicated." Aya shrugged. Yohji shrugged and looked apologetic.

"I see…but still, I shouldn't stay much longer. I have a ton of work to do." The lie rolled off of her tongue as she tilted her head, trying to look sincere. "But I'll stop in again soon."

Over the next week Brianna found herself stopping in at the flower shop every day after work.On Sunday, she gave in to her desire and decided to bring her sketchpad with her, hoping to work in the shop instead of her apartment. The horde in the store was even larger than normal, and it took her a couple of minutes to work her way inside. All four boys were working, and she caught Omi's eye first. "Omi-chan? Is it all right if I camp out in the corner and work?"

"Of course, Brianna-chan. We'd love to have you here." He installed her on a stool behind the cash register and left her with Ken. While she worked, she chatted with Ken, and then Omi when he took over checking people out. Aya and Yohji stopped by the counter often to make comments.

The fangirls started getting jealous of the attention. A short brown-haired girl remarked to her friends, "Why is she getting so much special treatment? I've never seen her in here before."

"That girl's been in every day this week. You've had your club after school. All the guys seem to know her really well."

"How dare she try to get close to them? She's not even that pretty."

"It's not fair, letting her stay even though she's not buying anything. We get yelled at all the time for that."

Aya heard the girls, and his glare silenced them. "Brianna-chan is special. You will leave her alone, or you will leave and not come back." His voice was calm and even; he didn't yell, or get mad, he just looked at them. She caught her breath at his completely serious tone. _Aya wants me around? He defended me…I didn't think he'd do that. He…protected me._ She watched him, her eyes wide with surprise, but he didn't say anything to her, or even look at her.

After that, the girls left Brianna alone. No one wanted to be exiled from watching the men work.


	3. Chapter 3

One afternoon, Ken invited her into the back room as he created the flower arrangements for delivery. She was perched on a stool in her nice business suit talking with him when Omi came in from school, joining both the conversation and the work. "Brianna, would you do sketches of the rest of us?" Omi smiled at her as he clipped flower stems.

"Yohji showed you those?" She blushed.

"I don't think he showed us all of them. Just a couple." Omi was quick to reassure her.

"I don't think Yohji wanted us to see some of those pictures that you drew of him." Ken laughed.

"Oh." She paused, thinking. "They weren't hentai or anything like that. Most of them weren't even very good likenesses. I don't draw people very often."

"But would you do us?" Ken slid a finished arrangement to one side and started on another.

"I suppose that I could if you really want me to. I'm not very good." She laughed when she saw them both light up. "Why don't you come over to my apartment some night, and I can make dinner for you too?"  
"That'd be great, but you don't have to make us dinner!" Omi shook his head. "That's not fair, cause we're asking you the favor! We'll bring dinner with us. Is tomorrow all right?"

She grinned at his ferociousness. "It's fine. I don't have work, so I'll be home all day." She gathered up her bag and wished them both a good night, cautioning them to remember to come over the next day.

Brianna swallowed nervously as the doorbell rang. _I can do this. Letting them in is no problem. They're not scary; they won't hurt me. This will be fine. And it's not like they're going to be stripping down for you to draw them. No drooling. No stammering. Just be calm._ She opened the door and welcomed them to her apartment. She'd put on a CD of lyric-less Celtic music, and the entire place was immaculate since she'd cleaned all day.

Omi wandered around the living room. The hardwood floor was covered with a thick Oriental rug, and the walls were painted a very pale blue. She'd framed sketches for the walls, both her own and ones that her friends from art school had done. When he found the laptop on the desk in the corner of the room, he lit up. "Would it be all right?" He motioned at the computer. Brianna nodded, and as he sat down, she picked up her sketchpad and pencil. He looked so young, his face alight with laughter, pleasure dancing in his huge blue eyes. Brianna smiled as she shaded in the shadows on his face from the laptop screen. _He looks so different in jeans and a nice shirt. He's usually in his school uniform, or the shorts and t-shirt he wears at the shop. He looks older, somehow._ Omi blushed a little when he realized he was being drawn. Brianna ducked her head, trying to hide her laughter.

Ken stretched out on the floor next to the desk, and slowly started to fall asleep listening to Omi techno-babble at him. He had his arms tucked under his head, his ankles crossed. His t-shirt molded to his tight stomach, and his jeans were comfortably baggy. Brianna sketched in Omi and the computer in the background, to explain Ken's slightly dazed look.

Yohji was lounging on one end of the overstuffed sofa; Aya sat at the other end. From where Brianna was sitting, the contrast between the two men was remarkable. Yohji's outfit of light shimmery gray slacks and green silk midriff top complemented Aya's midnight black jeans and t-shirt. She did a couple more of Aya, who had gotten up and was staring out the window with a look of brooding pain on his face.

Brianna could hardly sit still through the dinner of sukiyaki that they had brought; she itched to draw them all together. _The sheer beauty that each of them radiates is enough to make any artist's imagination leap to them tangled together with one another, in various states of undress. Plagued by too much imagination for my own good...though I suppose that men this gorgeous must be pretty good…._ As they sat around talking in the living room after dinner, she did some more sketches of them singly. Pulling the finished pieces out of the pad, she handed them around. "You're all a lot of fun to draw. These aren't the best, but I think I'm getting better."

While they looked over the sketches that she handed them, she worked quietly on one of her ideas. This sketch was done in the slightly sensual style that some of Yohji's original sketches came out in, and featured all four of them; Aya, sitting against the headboard of a bed, with Ken and Yohji on either side, and Omi stretched across the foreground of the picture, the other three looking at him. Yohji and Aya had on dress shirts, unbuttoned, with leather pants, also unbuttoned. Ken was wearing nothing but boxers, and Omi was wearing the shorts that he always worked the flower shop in. Aya's cold eyes were softer, a tiny smile trying to pull at his lips. Yohji was grinning in that lecherous way he had, and Ken was smiling, his eyes sparkling. Omi was laughing, carefree.

As Brianna put in some final shadowing, the room fell silent. She looked up to find that they were all looking over her shoulders. She started to blush and stammer, and eventually Yohji just put his hand over her mouth.

"It's all right, jo-chan." He shrugged a little and took his hand away. "You pegged us pretty much."

"Wha—" Brianna couldn't get the words out.

Aya shrugged, Omi blushed a little, and Ken was blunt. "We're kinda not entirely straight."

"Ah." Brianna stared at the four of them. _But…then why does Yohji…_

"We're not gay, either." Yohji looked nervous, and the other three looked distinctly uncomfortable. They'd taken their seats again, but seemed ready to bolt.

"Well, at least you're not going to be upset about the picture." Brianna smiled at them a little, waiting to see what they would say. They kept looking at one another for a while, and it was Aya who broke their silence.

"But are you upset because we want you?"

"What – me? You can't be serious!" She shook her head, almost laughing. _They aren't after me; they must be joking. Why would any one of them want me? Even with all the kisses and caresses from Yohji, I still don't really believe that he wants me._ None of them laughed, just sat and waited. Brianna paled. "You were serious."

"Of course we were serious, Brianna-chan." Omi smiled cheerfully. "You're beautiful."  
"Did you think that we were just sending you flowers and making you dinner cause we wanted to be friends?" Ken's quiet grin took the sting out of the girl's painful confusion.

"You…what….I mean….All….I…." She looked from one to the other to another to another, shock making her incomprehensible.

Yohji ran his hand through his hair. "We want you to be part of what we have together. You're the first girl we've ever found that we've all liked. That we've all wished were around more."

Ken shrugged a little. "It's not very conventional, is it? But then again…we're not very good at being normal." His eyes, normally so clear, became shadowed with some indefinable emotion.

Aya stood up abruptly. "We should go." He started for the door, the others trailing behind him. Surprised, since it was still early, Brianna said goodnight and they all left. Omi lingered for a moment. "Think about it, Brianna-chan. It'd be nice having you as part of our family." He waved as he raced down the hallway of the apartment building after the other three.

When Brianna went to bed that night, her dreams were soaked in blood. She woke up feeling like a terrible secret hung over the four men who'd asked her to be a part of their lives. _Damnit. What a time for my instincts to finally start working. I've finally found men that don't make me cry with fear, and I start thinking horrible things about them the second they want me to stick around. _She went to work, avoiding the flower shop along the way. She didn't stop in on the way home either, and spent the next week away from them, thinking hard about their offer.

_Over the three weeks that I've known them, I've started relaxing. I don't spend my days living in fear; somehow, they make me feel safe, give me confidence. Partly it's knowing that they will never hurt me; partly it's knowing that if I need them, they'll be there. I can't put into words what makes me think that they would find a way to save me no matter what._ Brianna sighed. "It feels as though I can't truly be alive ever, but when I'm with Yohji or Omi or Ken or Aya, that goes away. Even if there's some horrible secret that they're keeping from me, I find myself trusting them." Brianna stared at the words she'd typed in the email to her cousins. Her strange fears had been put into words, but it didn't make her feel any better.


	4. Chapter 4

There was no reason for Brianna to stop by the flower shop on her way home from work. As the shop was closed, she walked around to the back of the shop, to the back door. The door opened easily. Brianna bypassed the darkened shop and went upstairs to the apartment. All the lights were on, but no one was there. As she was opening the door to leave, a noise from the basement made her pause, and then slip silently down the stairs.She paused when a woman's voice rose above the softer tones of the men. "Damn it. You're Weiss. This is what you're paid to do. You're not supposed to start having moral issues about the targets."

"Manx, you don't understand. This isn't right." Ken sounded upset, but it was nothing to the horrified tones that Omi was protesting in.

"No. No no no. I won't believe it. Manx, tell me that it's not true. You added the second target after the mission started, there might be a mistake."

Brianna shook her head, not understanding. She moved a little further down the stairs, and saw the woman who had been speaking. Tall and red-haired, the woman had an angry expression on face and had her arms folded. Omi was at her side, wide blue eyes shimmering with tears that hadn't been shed. Suddenly there was a thump, and she heard Ken curse.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she walked down the stairs. Four pairs of surprised eyes turned to her; Ken was staring at the blood smeared across his knuckles. Brianna could see a large dent in the plaster wall next to him. "Ken, are you all right?" He did a double take at her, then nodded.

The woman exhaled sharply in annoyance. "You know her. You're objecting because you know her."

Aya nodded. Ken glared, while Omi swiped a hand across his eyes. Yohji sighed, and walked to Brianna, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "Manx, this isn't the time to discuss this. But yes, to an extent, we're objecting because we know her. Go back to Krittiker and tell them that we're not going to take out the secondary target until we see some solid irrefutable proof that we'll believe."

Brianna was stunned. _What are they talking about? Weiss? Secondary targets? Moral issues? What is this woman talking about?_ The woman had left, angry but knowing that staying would mean fighting a losing battle. The four guys crowded around Brianna, who was still confused and worried. _This is it. This is the dark secret that I kept sensing was there._

"Brianna-chan? We can explain." Omi's eyes were worried; she could see Ken fiddling with the cloth that Aya had produced from somewhere to wipe the blood up with. "Sit down, and we'll tell you everything."

The girl sat, but before any of them could speak, she started talking. "I've spent nearly four years being scared. I moved to Japan because my home was too lonely. But it wasn't going to be any different here. I was still by myself, and couldn't handle the level of isolation that I was feeling."

She waved a hand at Ken as he started to say something. "But then I met you four. For the first time in years, I don't fear getting up in the mornings. I don't look around, constantly worrying. I don't jump at noises – I can eat out again. I sleep through the night now. You make me feel safe." She took a deep breath. "You four banished my beautiful alone. You became people that I could trust, _men_ that I could trust. And I haven't trusted anyone or felt safe since I left him."

"Him?" Yohji settled on the couch next to her, draping an arm around her shoulders. The tiny girl shook her head, again shushing the comments.

"I was told once that it's better to live on, no matter what; that the will to live is the strongest force in the world for a reason. I didn't believe that for a long time.

After I was let out of the hospital, my parents were killed in a car accident. They were my closest family; the only other relatives I speak with are two of my cousins, and neither of them lived anywhere near D.C. Because of everything that had happened, I was forced to see a doctor. A psychiatrist. He was the one who told me about the will to live, that told me that the…incidents…weren't my fault." She looked around at each of the men facing her, meeting each pair of eyes directly.

"You know, you can let go of depression, and you can push aside guilt and shame, and you can pretend that you don't hate yourself – but none of it really ever goes away. You just learn to live with it, to ignore it. Every day was easier to cope with – especially once I isolated myself from a social life. If there isn't anyone around you, you can't get hurt, right?" She laughed, a short, almost ugly sound. "But no matter how much you push people away, you are confronted with people who you need. Lives that touch you, that force you to shove through your own inadequacies. You force me to do that. Something in the back of my mind won't let me walk away from you." She shook her head. "But no matter what that voice says, I know that I make bad choices. All I've ever made were bad choices when I've tried to follow my heart. And right now, I need you to tell me something – are you another bad choice? Are you going to reveal something terrible that will hurt me?"

The room was silent after her words. The four men traded glances, no one sure what to say. Finally, Yohji sighed. "We're not florists." Then he fell silent again.

"That's all you have to say?" Brianna started trembling. "That's it. 'We're not florists'? What are you then? Hired killers?"

The silence was almost touchable. Stunned by the fact that no one was denying it, Brianna's eyes filled with tears. _No. Oh, gods, what have I done to myself now._ She brushed impatiently at the tears, and shrugged off Yohji's arm. Standing, she looked at each of them, nearly panicking, and seeing the calm, resigned, and sad expressions, fled the florist shop.

She reached her apartment, out of breath and crying. She searched through her pockets, nearly sobbing with frustration, as she couldn't find her key. When she finally admitted that she'd dropped her key ring someplace, she slid down to the hallway floor, leaning back against her door and dropping her head to her knees.

_I thought they were safe. I thought they were good. They lied to me, pretended to be different men, safe men. They're just going to kill me. That's what all that was about. I'm an assignment to them. One that they're going to murder._

She couldn't have been sitting there for more than two or three minutes when she felt someone's presence in front of her. Giving in, she looked up to see Omi kneeling in front of her. He held out her set of keys silently. She took it, her hand trembling. Tear tracts marred her face, and she was sniffing.

"We never meant to hurt you, Brianna-san. We only wanted for you to see us without having to see the blood. None of us wanted to be the one to disturb your innocence." He stood up, his wide blue eyes sad. "We did it anyway, with these hands stained with blood." His disgust with himself was broken through when she began laughing.

"Innocence?" The laughter was sharp, nearly hysterical. "What innocence? I lost that the day that I agreed to marry that man." She burst into hysterical sobbing, unable to hold back the floods of emotion that she'd restrained for so long.

Omi fell to his knees, gathering her into his arms. He patted her shoulder, not knowing what to do with her tears. Looking down the hallway, he saw Yohji running from the stairwell where the others waited. The older man dropped down and gently took Brianna into his arms, lifting her up. "Open the door, Omi. I'll take care of her."

"She…she said something about losing her innocence when she agreed to marry someone. Yohji, I didn't know that she was married…." Omi's hands shook slightly as he unlocked the apartment door.

"I'll get her to tell me the whole story. It'll be all right, Omitchi." Yohji's reassuring words didn't touch the pit of his stomach, where a cold weight was settling.


	5. Chapter 5

Yohji set Brianna on the couch, and she curled up away from him, hiding her face in a throw pillow. He sat down in the armchair, his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He sighed, pushing his golden hair back and sitting up to face her. "We're not allowed to refuse the contract on your life. All we can do is try to prove that you're not involved with Sarisho. Brianna, I'm sorry you found out about it this way.

"The four of us have been assassins for years. Omi was only fifteen when Weiss was brought together. That's who we are - Weiss, the white hunters of darkness. We all have our reasons for becoming what we are today. Aya's parents were killed, and his sister hit by a car. She was in a coma for three years before she woke up. Ken was a soccer player. He was set up by a man he thought was his friend, and was kicked out of the league; he was also nearly burned to death. Omi was kidnapped when he was a little, and raised to be an assassin by the man that brought the rest of us together. I - I lost my partner. We were private detectives, and she was shot and killed during one of our kidnapped girl cases.

"We're stained with blood. It will never wash off of our hands, and we try to stay away from innocents. Aya's sister is an exception because he is all the family that she has; he gave up his soul to protect her. Her name is Aya, too - he changed his name from Ran to Aya to remember her, when he didn't think that she would ever wake up. He got his revenge eventually; it turns out that the man who brought us together and raised Omi was the Police Commissioner, who is also the brother of Reiji Takatori, who was behind the Fujimiyas' deaths. The four of us destroyed the entire Takatori clan." Yohji paused, remembering how difficult it was for them all, especially Omi. _I'm not sure that I would have survived finding my family again, and then being forced to kill them because they were evil._

Brianna had turned her face from the pillow to look at Yohji, her tears abating in the torrent of his words. He looked haunted. "Omi had to kill his family?"

"Omi killed his brothers himself. Though now we're not sure if they were his brothers or his cousins, as there's some question as to whether Persia or Takatori was his real father. We've all had to kill someone close to us. My partner came back, brainwashed and set against us. Ken's friend from soccer came back and was one of our targets. Aya nearly lost his sister, and another girl that he'd befriended, and even threatened to kill Persia.

"None of us are innocent anymore, Brianna. None of us know how to forget the sins and blood and death that has attached to us. You were like a breath of fresh air for us. We're all a little bit in love with you because of that."

"I'm not innocent." Her voice was a whisper. "I haven't been innocent since _him_."

"Since who, Brianna? Omi said that you said you were married?" Yohji's green eyes stared into her silver ones.

"When I was in high school, I met someone. I thought that I loved him, and he professed to love me. We dated for nearly four years, and once we graduated, we got married. I was going to college nearby, and he'd been accepted to a larger school in the city. When we were in high school, it was perfect. But when we moved into our own apartment, in the city, right after graduation, it became a nightmare. Slowly, he cut me off from my family; Brenna and Jade were the only ones who even tried to keep in contact, after all of the lies he told about me. My parents gave up, trying to push through the barriers of voice mail and messages and polite lies that he fenced me in with. My friends from school stopped calling, or inviting me out. He made sure that I didn't have time for them; he'd tell them that he was giving me their messages, when he wasn't, so that when I saw them, they'd be mad at me.

"Eventually it was easier to give in to him than to fight him. He had me convinced that I needed him for everything, that I was worthless without him - that I couldn't survive without him there to make decisions for me. I ended up dropping out of school so that I could work more, and have more time to take care of housework and meals and him. I couldn't pick up any of my art supplies without him having a tantrum about how I was ignoring him.

"Two years later, my cousin Brenna came to town for an extended period for work, and she spent a lot of time with me while he was in classes and working. She forced me to see what he was doing to me. I confronted him about the fact that I wasn't happy, and he seemed to take it well. I moved out and got a hotel room while I figured out what I wanted to do. A week later, he was waiting for me in the hallway. He shoved me into my room, and assaulted me.

"He spent two days with me there. He did everything imaginable to make me hate myself, to make me hate the touch of another, to make me doubt my own sanity and reason and intelligence. He raped me, mind, body, and soul. He degraded me, and talked down to me, and forced me to say horrible things about myself." Brianna's tears started again, silently, even as she recited her story in a cold, chilling voice. "Finally, he beat me until I was unconscious, and left me in that hotel room for dead. If Brenna hadn't come looking for me, I would have died.

"It took me a long time to get better, and while I was in the hospital, my parents and Brenna were pursuing an arrest. He's in jail now - it was the last thing that my parents did. They died in a car accident on the way home from his trial. And I lived with that for four years before I moved here and met all of you, and believed myself safe." She started laughing, the same macabre sound as in the hallway. "My instincts are as good as ever, I see. After _him_, four assassins. Who took a hit on me."

Yohji shook his head. "What do I have to do to convince you that I - that _WE_ don't want you dead?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure that there is anything." She wiped at the tears on her face, taking deep breaths. "I really trusted you guys. I - I wish I could trust my own feelings."

"Why shouldn't you? You were young when you met that guy. You were too inexperienced to be able to make a call like that, and it's the crazy ones that seem normal. It's the crazy ones that can pretend to be everything that you want until they're close enough to take what they want. And no one - not you, not me, not even Aya - can determine who they are with absolute certainty. All I can ask is this: at any point, with any of us, did you feel like we would take advantage of you, or force you to do anything that you didn't want?"

Brianna closed her eyes, trying to recall every second of the time she'd spent with them all. Moments flashed by in her mind, of flowers and homework and art and conversation. And not once could she remember anything uncomfortable or unsettling or upsetting. She shook her head. "Not once. All I have is a sense of comfort, of safety."

"Please don't hate us for what we do. Please…I know that we can't wash the blood away, and we can't fix any of our pasts to be other than violent and disturbing - but we have the chance to help each other heal. Will you help us? Will you be a part of our family?"

Brianna shook her head. "I can't decide on that right now. I need time to think. Let me have some time."

Yohji sighed. "I figured that'd be what you said. We can't give you much time though. If you're going to go back to Sarisho, then you'll need protection. You'll need us to keep you safe. Because you're the only link we have right now, and we want to make sure that nothing happens to you before we can clear your name."

"Give me until morning. I'll answer you then." She motioned towards the door, and Yohji stood up, nodding.

"I understand. Whatever you answer, we'll keep you safe until Sarisho is out of the way. You have my word on that, whatever the word of a murderer is worth to you." He walked out of the apartment with a heavy heart.

_All of our lives rest in her hands now. All we can do is wait until morning._


	6. Chapter 6

Brianna spent the night arguing with herself - retracing all of her thoughts and feelings since she'd met the four men, since she'd become friends with them. She sketched frantically, trying to capture her fears on paper. By morning, she was exhausted, drained, and slightly dehydrated. But she had an answer.

Yohji slid a coffee mug across the table to a bleary-eyed Omi. "You're not going to school today, Omitchi?"  
"I don't think I can stay awake, Yohji-kun." He wrapped his fingers around the cup, and sipped at the warm drink. Ken dozed on the table, his knuckles still wrapped up from hitting the wall. Aya paced through the flower shop, needlessly moving pots and fixing arrangements. Yohji turned a chair around and sat at the table, chugging his own coffee.

It was silent until the door's bells chimed. Four heads snapped around to stare at the petite female framed in the doorway. Brianna regarded them all with calm eyes, looking at each in turn. Time seemed to still for a long moment, and then she stepped all of the way into the flower shop.

"I can't promise anything. I can't say if I'll be able to be what you want, or if I'll cave under the pressure of it all. But…I can't bring myself to think that I was wrong about you all. I can't bring myself to believe that a beautiful alone is better than being with you all, no matter what you might do to me." Her voice was quiet; almost a whisper, but they all heard her perfectly. Omi pushed his chair back and ran over to hug her. Over his shoulder, she met the eyes of the others. They each nodded their head in agreement to what she hadn't said. She nodded back, running a hand across Omi's shoulders.

She moved him back a little to look into his eyes. "And why aren't you at school, mister?"

He smiled at her guilelessly. "I needed to know you were all right." She shook her head and hugged him again. The younger man was moved aside by Aya, who leaned down and hugged her. Ken was next, an exuberant bear-hug that ended with her asking after his hand. Yohji was last, and he took a moment to whisper in her ear, "No one will ask more of you than you're willing to give, and none of us will push you." She smiled for the first time that day.

"I know." She shrugged her shoulders a little. "Now what? I took a sick day today, but I do have to go back to work."

"It's dangerous though." Omi shook his head. "We can't let you just walk back in there, knowing what you do."

"I don't see how you can protect me while I'm at work." Brianna smiled and sat down in Ken's chair that he offered her. He perched on the table, frowning slightly.

"Why don't we set up a schedule so that one of us is always with you? Aya knows a little bit about art thanks to Aya-chan, he could pose as an intern. Omi can spend Sundays with you, and Yohji and I could switch off the rest of the time. That way the store is covered too."

"That's a good idea, Ken. We'll do that." Aya nodded firmly. "All you'll need to do, Brianna, is make up a reason to take an intern into the office. Maybe tell everyone that you decided to work with a class at a college, so if I can't go in one of the others can, and it won't look too suspicious."

"I can do that. I've mentioned to Mereii that I've wanted help with the inking and coloring, so that would be a good way to get that help." Brianna stood. "I should get home, call the office to explain what's going on."

"Who's going with her now?" Omi raised sleepy eyes to the others. "I can't, I need to sleep so that I can get to school tomorrow."

"No one's going with me now." Brianna shook her head, even as Ken spoke.

"I'll go with her." Ken shrugged. "I'm not much good for setting up surveillance or anything, and Aya should be here when Aya-chan calls later tonight." He hopped off the table and pulled a baseball cap out of his back pocket.

"You're going to have to pretend that you don't know us, so you shouldn't give names. Come up with some kind of fictional class, and we'll make sure that there's a phone number and paperwork so that they can check up on it." Omi propped his chin in his hand, obviously making a mental list of projects that would keep him up long into the night.

"Ok. But, please, let me have this one last night without one of you shadowing me constantly?" Brianna paused, unsure if she should say anything else, but the expectant looks on their faces forced her to. "I need a little more time to wrap my mind around all of this. It's - it's a little too much."

Ken nodded slowly. "We can understand that, but…it could still be dangerous."

"How? Sarisho doesn't even know that I'm here. He thinks I'm home sick. I've been coming into the office looking tired for a week! Mereii certainly isn't going to think anything strange is going on from one day of rest!" She shook her head firmly. "No. Not tonight."

Aya sighed. "Fine. One night. After this, one of us is with you constantly."

"Fine." She turned and left, knowing that if she didn't escape then, she might end up with an escort anyway.

Brianna called Mereii and explained that she'd arranged for a student from a local community art program to come in and help her. After going through the 'details' with her secretary, she spent the rest of the day working on various projects. After dinner, she decided to go to bed early, and read until she fell asleep.

It was nearly two-thirty in the morning when a noise woke her. She'd just decided that it had been the apartment door, when a closer noise prompted her to flip the light on. In the bedroom doorway stood Omi. His wide blue eyes held nervousness and fear. She motioned him closer, and he stepped into the room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I didn't realize how late it was until I was here."

Brianna shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Did you need something?" He took a step backwards, and she reached out to him. "Sit down, Omi-chan."

He sat, but on the edge of the bed, so that he could move away. "I'm sorry I'm bothering you on the night that you asked to be free of us."

"Omi-chan, it's fine. But you're making me worried. What's the matter?" She moved closer to him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I just - I need to know if you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"Are you really ok with us? Are you really going to stay?" His eyes held a world of pain.

Brianna was silent for a long moment. "My past scares me. It makes me question every decision that I make, every person that I befriend, any man who comes near me. I spent a long time living in fear. I think I'm finally able to give that up. I think that I'll be able to stay. If you are who I think, who I feel you are in my heart, then yes, I mean it, I'm really going to stay." She held her arms out, and Omi clung to her as if she were the last rock in a raging river.

"I was worried that you wouldn't be able to understand, that you wouldn't be able to forgive us for lying." He started crying. "We're the only family that we'll ever have, and it was such a risk to invite you in - hope isn't something that's left to us. Hope and forgiveness."

"There's always hope. No matter how dark the world seems, there's people who can understand, who can forgive. That's what family is, after all."

"I've never really had a family. Is this what it's like?"

"No, Omitchi. This is much much better. Because we're strangers who've found each other, and that's a more precious gift than family by blood. It's special." Brianna smiled and hugged him one more time before pulling away. "Now, then, don't you have school tomorrow?"

Omi looked guilty. "I was up anyway, working on the mission."

"Grab some sweats. You can sleep here, and I'll get you up in the morning with enough time to change before school." She pointed him towards a drawer, and he slipped into the bathroom to change. A few minutes later, she had him curled up in the king-size bed with her. As he fell asleep, he murmured thank you, and she knew that it was for more than a night's sleep.

_We all bear our sins. Some of us are better at it than others though._ She smoothed his hair, and laughed softly to herself. _Maybe he can teach me how to let things go. He has a lighter spirit, and he's had to face so much more than I did._

Buzzing. Brianna reached out of the covers and groped for the alarm. Her head popped up as someone else turned the annoying noise off. Blearily, she blinked up at Aya, who held a school bag and some clothes in one hand. A small smile was gracing his delicate features. "Good morning."

"Morning." She looked over her shoulder to see Omi curled up behind her, cuddling his pillow. She sat up and poked him in the side. "Omi – hun, it's time to get up. If you don't hurry and change, you'll be late for school."

He mumbled something that could be taken as a greeting as he got out of bed and took his things from Aya. The older man's smile grew ever so slightly as the teen stumbled towards the bathroom. He sat on the edge of Brianna's bed as the girl pushed her hair out of her face glared at the clock. "How'd you know he was here?" Her voice sounded a little more awake.

"He left a note." He scooted back to lean up against the headboard. "Don't you need to get up?"

"I have time. I set the alarm early for Omi." As the silence grew longer, Brianna's eyes closed and she slid sideways into Aya's shoulder. He caught her, shifting her until it was comfortable. She only sighed in her sleep as he waited for Omi to come out of the bathroom.

"Aya? I'm heading out now." Omi's voice woke Aya from the light doze that he'd fallen into. Brianna stirred slightly, as Aya nodded to the younger Weiss member.

"See you." The red-haired assassin reached out and shut the alarm off as it began to buzz again, and shook Brianna's shoulder to wake her.

She sat up, realizing that she'd fallen asleep on him. "Oh, god, I'm sorry. I just…"

"You were tired. It's fine." He shrugged. She nodded, and then stared at the clock.

"Shoot. I've got to hurry." She threw the covers back and raced for the bathroom. Aya merely nodded, leaned his head back, and went to sleep.

"Use Ran as my name."

"What?" Brianna glanced back at Aya, who trailed behind her as they walked towards her building.

"Introduce me as Ran Fujimiya."

"Is that your real last name?" She pushed through the revolving door into the lobby.

"It's my real name." He said it quietly, not looking at her, and she decided that the story behind that would be too long for the elevator ride. She nodded silently, and left the assassin to his thoughts.

Brianna stepped into her office and smiled at Mereii. "This is Ran Fujumiya. He will be working with me for a few weeks." Her voice was steady, without hesitation, and Aya's mouth quirked in a slight smile. He bowed to the secretary.

"Pleased to meet you, Ran. Good luck." The woman's smile was warm, even as she sorted messages. "Sarisho-san has requested a meeting with you this morning. He will be by around eleven. I have to leave for a bit, but I've turned the phones over to the switchboard."

"Thank you. I'll get Ran settled in then, and finish up a few things before Sarisho-san arrives." The artist opened the inner door, Aya following, as Mereii gathered her purse and left. "I'll have you work in the little office." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "If you leave the door open a tiny crack, you should be able to hear perfectly."

The tall assassin nodded, and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. Her whole body was tense, though she showed no outward sign of it. "You're doing well."

"Lying is a skill you never forget." She moved away from him, picked up a folder, and set him to work.

Sarisho arrived precisely at eleven, and didn't even ask if she was alone. "Brianna-san, it's time for you to begin your real work." Before she could question him, he shook his head. "You didn't honesty believe that we would bring you to Japan for your graphic design skills? Artists are a dime a dozen, but your ability, now, that's a rare treasure."

"I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about." She met his eyes unfalteringly, and he laughed.

"Oh, we figured it out, and I'm sure you know what we're talking about. After all, being able to draw the truth isn't something you miss, now is it?"

She sucked in a quiet breath, trying not to show her surprise. _How did he find out? Brenna and Jade are the only people I've ever told…._ Cold crept into her stomach, and concern for her cousins began to overwhelm her.

"Let's remember that you still have things to lose. Friends, family…if you cooperate, we won't be forced into any drastic measures. And maybe someday you'll be allowed to return to your country." Sarisho leaned over the desk, making her sit back. "You'll fall into line, or we'll find leverage. It's your choice." With those words, he turned and walked out of the office.

Brianna closed her eyes, and tried to keep from shaking by hugging herself. _He knows._ "Nonononono…" Her whisper was near silent, and desperate.

When Aya put a hand on her shoulder, she jumped out of her chair, nearly falling as she crashed into the desk. Her head whipped around, hair flying into wide eyes. His expression was grim as he touched her shoulder again to calm her down. "What was that about?"

Her trembling increased. Aya stepped closer, sliding an arm around her waist. She shakily pushed her hair out of her face. "Somehow…Sarisho-san…knows things. Things that are a secret between my cousins and I. Things he never should have found out." Aya's clear amethyst eyes never wavered from her face, and tears began to fall down her cheeks. "He knows that I can draw things that are true – that I can draw hidden secrets and strange coincidences."

Aya's gaze sharpened. "Like the drawings you did of the four of us?"

Tremulously, she nodded. "I have very little control over this power – only enough to keep it out of my graphic design work. When I'm drawing for pleasure, it's too strong to deny."

He nodded, staring into space, obviously piecing together a plan.

"Why…why don't you find this weird?" Brianna wiped at her tears, angry with herself for giving in to them.

He shrugged, guiding her into her office chair again. "We've met people with powers."

"Met?"

"Fought." He shrugged again, as though it meant very little. "Swartz had mystical powers."

"Swartz? The bad guys were named Swartz? And you guys are Weiss?" Brianna began to laugh, the faintest edge of hysteria tingeing the sound.

Aya nodded, allowing a slight chuckle. "It is a little silly. But their powers weren't."

The artist nodded, trying to stop giggling. "Oh god." She buried her face in her hands. "I have to warn Jade and Brenna."

"Sarisho will have tapped their phones." Aya stroked the girl's hair, absentmindedly comforting her. "Give us time." He felt her nod, and he knelt to look into her face. "Get through today."

She nodded again, straightening up and squaring her shoulders. "Only a few hours…." The words were a whisper, just a breath, but Aya heard the determination.

"Yes." He stood, settling himself in one of her chairs with a sketchpad and some pens. "I'll stay here." She smiled at him, grateful that he knew, without her having to say it, that she didn't want to be alone in the office.


	7. Chapter 7

Brianna managed to get through the rest of the day. She chatted with Mereii when the receptionist came back in from her appointment with the day's mail. As she was going through the stack of envelopes, her face went pale. She ripped the envelope in her hands open, shaking the pages out and reading them quickly. The paper dropped from her hands, and she obviously was fighting back tears. "Jade is…"

"Jade?" Aya watched the young artist struggle for control.

"My cousin. She's seventeen. And transferring to a Tokyo high school."

"It will be fine." He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes icy. "We protect people."

Brie nodded, unable to counter his certainty. The assassin rose abruptly. "We're leaving." Startled, she nodded again, and jumped to gather her belongings.

At the flower shop, Aya passed her off to Ken with a few muttered words to the younger man, and disappeared into the depths of the store after giving her a reassuring smile.

Ken stuffed his apron under the counter and stuck his head into the back room to say something to Omi. He came back to find Brianna slumped at the worktable. He dropped a hand onto her head. "We're going out for dinner."

"What?" She blinked up at him.

"Dinner, Bri-chan, dinner. C'mon." He pulled her up and led her outside to his motorcycle.

"Ken-kun, I have a skirt on."

"Oh." He stopped for a moment, then brought her up to the apartment. He sat her down on the bed, and ignored her to rummage in the closet. He tossed a pair of jeans at her. "Try those on while I find a clean shirt." His voice was muffled as he didn't even turn around.

She hesitated, then stripped out of her hose and skirt, shimmying the jeans up over her hips. They were snug, but snapped easily. A shirt landed on her head as she bent over to pick up her clothes. She hurried to put it on before Ken turned. She rolled the sleeves up a few times and tied the shirttails in a knot at her waist. "Set."

The brown-haired assassin smiled at her. "Very cute." He moved closer, backing her up until she sat on the bed again, and knelt in front of her. "Omi's old shoes should fit you." He slid socks on her feet, then held the shoes up for her to slip her feet into. He tied them carefully, and when he looked up, their eyes met. A faint blush covered her cheekbones. He grinned and raised her leg, moving the jeans and sock to press a kiss to her slim ankle. Her blush deepened, and she looked away.

Still embarrassed, she clung to him tightly on the ride to the restaurant, but as they were seated by the young Chinese girl, her blush was beginning to fade.

"It's safe here." He reached out and twined his fingers with hers. "The family who owns this restaurant is from an old Chinese martial arts clan. Will you tell me what's wrong?"

"Sarisho found out somehow that I can draw the truth, and now he's threatening my cousins, and Jade is moving to Japan…."

"You can draw the truth?" He rubbed her knuckles. "That's cool. That's how you drew us that day, right?"

"Mm. I don't realize that I'm doing it most of the time." She paused as the waitress came back with glasses of water. Ken ordered for them both, as Brianna hadn't even looked at the menu. "I can't imagine how it's useful. Jade is more handy to have around."

"She has powers too?"

"She's a Healer." She sipped her water. "She's the reason that I survived. Literally. And Brenna can turn the written word into truth, though it's very difficult. She'll be knocked out for hours afterwards."

"I don't know…we might have to come up with a cool German code-name for you guys."

"Something girly, I suppose. Pink? Shrieking Harpies?" She giggled a little, but he didn't smile.

"Schrient's already taken. Though I'm pretty sure the four of them are dead."

Brianna paused as the first course was served. "Are – were they on your side?"

Ken slurped noodles into his mouth, shaking his head. "We, uh, may be the reason why they're all dead."

"Oh." She was silent, choosing to eat instead of asking more questions about the assassination work. Ken was quiet until the second course was served, and then he began to chat about his soccer team. She questioned him about the kids and when they played, and this subject got them through the rest of the meal.

Ken paid the bill and stood, leaning over to speak into Brianna's ear. "Wait here for me. I'm going to run to the men's room."

"Mm-hmm." She agreed, but swiftly felt out of place sitting alone at the table. She stepped just outside of the small restaurant and leaned against the wall. She couldn't have been there for more than a few seconds before a businessman stopped in front of her. He looked at her outfit, then stepped closer.

"I haven't seen you in this area before. You new?" He leered at her, and she realized that he was drunk. She pressed her back to the wall, trying to avoid touching him. "Well, girlie? How much for an hour?"

She shook her head, her eyes wide with fright as he reached out and grabbed her arm. She flinched, her eyes closing, as she whispered "nononono" under her breath.

His grip tightened, and he began to say something else when his words cut off and his hand left her arm. Brianna waited, her eyes still closed, to see what would happen. Tears were beginning to trickle down her face. Someone moved into her space, and gentle fingers wiped the moisture away. She could smell the cologne, and opened her eyes to look up at Ken. He looked furious. He whirled back to the prone businessman, clenching his fists. "You shouldn't make girls cry."

"Whaa-?" The man's eyes widened, and he tried to apologize, but Ken hauled him up and punched him, leaving him on the ground, and wrapped an arm around the distraught girl's waist. He led her down the street to his bike, sitting her on the seat and standing over her protectively.

Brianna was still crying; she wiped at the tears impatiently, trying to get herself under control. Ken pushed her hands out of the way, leaning down to kiss the salt away. His hands rested lightly on her shoulders, giving her the option of pulling away, but instead she let herself sag into the comfort of his strong body.

"Brie-chan? You all right? Baby?" He sounded worried, and the girl smiled, her face still buried in his stomach.

"I wanna go home, Ken-kun." She pulled away, throwing her leg over the bike; she held him as tightly as she could once he was seated in front of her.

He brought her up to her apartment, expecting to find Yohji waiting, but instead found a note from Aya explaining that he and Yohji were doing reconnaissance that night.

"I usually get left behind when they're sneaking around." He grinned at her. "I'm too hotheaded."

The artist nodded as she collapsed onto the sofa. Shaking hands pushed away wayward strands of hair. "Thank you."

"No. It was my fault. I'm sorry that I left you alone."

She blinked at him, her ex-husband's voice ringing in her memories. "You're not going to yell at me for not listening to you?" She was frozen in place, waiting, her expression hiding everything from him.

He dropped onto the couch next to her, a shrug lifting his shoulders. "I'm not real good at following orders either."

"But –" She stopped, a puzzled look on her face.

"You made a choice, baby. I'm not going to berate you for that." He leaned back, stretching an arm across the back of the couch. "You wanna watch a movie or something?"

She didn't answer him. She was staring at him, stunned. "I never…thought…." She blushed but didn't look away. There was wonder in her shining eyes.

"Uh…what's going on?" He squirmed under her gaze.

"I spent years being screamed at for any disobedience. You can't understand how impossibly freeing it is to hear you say to me that you won't be angry with me for not listening to you." She let herself lean towards him. He caught her, snuggling her into his side. "Maybe I did make the right choice."

Ken pressed a kiss to her forehead, his hand sliding around her waist to drag her even closer. "This isn't the part where you tell me what a great friend I am and that you think of me as a brother, is it?"

She looked up at him from under her lashes, considering. The moment stretched on long enough that he was beginning to worry, but she answered finally. "I don't believe that it is."

"Good." Ken grinned wolfishly down at her, then swooped in and claimed her lips. As he kissed her, he moved his arm so that she could escape if she wanted to.

Brianna had flinched in surprise at the contact, but relaxed into the kiss as he started out slowly, letting her set the pace. When she pulled away, he looked into her eyes, unnaturally serious. "I won't call you a tease if this is all that you want."

She stared at him in shock. He cupped her cheek with one large hand and smiled. "We want you to be happy, with us. We're all willing to take what we can get, when you're ready to give it."

"But – " He stopped her words with a gentle kiss.

"There are alternatives, baby. You aren't going to kill any of us." He hooked a finger around a strand of hair, drawing it away from the corner of her mouth. "We want you to love us, not be afraid of us." He grinned. "And it's a little funny, cause we all thought that Yohji would be having this conversation with you."

"Why?"

"Because he's the smooth one. Aya is the calm one, Omi is the cheerful one, and I'm usually the loudmouth. How'm I doing at smooth?"

"Pretty good, actually." She hesitated, then stretched up and kissed him, this time parting her lips and teasing at his mouth. He leaned into her, deepening the kiss, keeping his hands on objects other than her.

The only sign she had of his response to her was the soft moan when they parted. Brianna hestitantly brought a hand up to trace the line of his jaw. He held very still as she touched him, letting her do whatever she wanted. His hand clenched in the soft material of the afghan thrown over the back of the couch, but he kept his control.

"Is it okay if I go and change?" Her voice was quiet, a little breathy, and he exhaled slowly before nodding.

Brianna stood in the silence of her bedroom and tried to steady her nerves. She tossed the borrowed clothing onto her bed and stared indecisively at her dresser. _What do I wear? What do I want? Is it just gratitude, am I falling back into pleasing others instead of doing what I need or want?_ She jumped at the tap, half-expecting the door to burst open.

Ken's voice was muffled slightly, but he didn't sound angry. "I'm going to raid your movies and make popcorn, is that all right?"

"That's fine." That made up her mind. She pulled on a pair of capri exercise pants and a yoga-style tank top, and headed to the kitchen to help with snacks.

Ken had already set up the DVD player with the third Lord of the Rings movie, exclaiming rapturously as he sat down with his popcorn about how happy he was she had the version with the Japanese dub.

Brianna dozed off halfway through the four-hour long movie, slumping into Ken's side. He rearranged her so that they were both lying down on the couch. When the movie was finished, he shut the TV off and woke her up enough to get her standing so that he could swing her up into his arms.

He laid her carefully on the bed, pulling the covers over her. He hesitated before pulling his belt out of the loops on his jeans and sliding into the other side of the giant bed. He had barely settled in before Brianna was curled into his side. He grinned into the darkness. _She's a cuddler. She's going to be just fine._ He relaxed and let himself fall asleep.

He woke while it was still dark, hearing a soft curse. "Brie-chan?"

"Sorry. I snagged a nail on your jeans." He could just barely make out the finger she held up in the darkness. Sleepily, he caught her hand and kissed the wounded digit. Her quickly exhaled breath made him smile.

"Is it okay if I take them off?"

She paused, then agreed. He unsnapped the pants and wiggled out of them, tossing them to the floor. He relaxed back into the bed, but Brianna didn't return to his side.

"Just cause I stripped down to my boxers doesn't mean I plan on ravishing you. Don't let that stop you from having your way with me if you want, however." He sounded so hopeful that she had to giggle. "Honest, baby, I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know that, I do. I even trust you, but it's hard to trust myself." She paused, and when she resumed speaking, her voice was muffled, like she'd thrown an arm over her face. "I'm not sure if _I_ want you or Aya or Yohji, or if I just want to please you all so that I'm being a good girl."

"Well, I'm happy with just snuggling, so don't feel like you have to put out on my account." He slid his fingers around her wrist, tugging. "I like having you close. That's enough."

She let him pull her closer, and she threw a leg over his, letting herself get tangled up in the sensation of being so close. They lay in silence, falling back to sleep, and Ken smiled as she whispered into his shoulder, "this is nice."

Aya woke Ken early, and they traded places so that Ken could open the flower shop. The redhead noted that the alarm was set, and allowed himself to go to sleep.

Brie woke up at the alarm an hour later, startled to find Aya in her bed. "Good morning."

"Un. Ken had to open." He closed his eyes again as she headed for the bathroom with clean clothes.

The day passed uneventfully, Sarisho apparently deciding to give her some time to come around to the idea, and Aya passed her off to Yohji at her apartment after work.

"Jo-chan, I've missed you. Those other guys kept me away unfairly!" He pushed his sunglasses down and gave her puppy dog eyes, looking for either sympathy or a laugh.

She laughed, and offered to make him dinner in recompense. He grinned, following her into the kitchen to keep her company.

"Do you mind having one of us around constantly?" He slurped yakisoba, green eyes for once seen without the ever-present sunglasses. His hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and his shirt hung untucked over his leather pants.

"I thought I would, but…it's actually very comforting." She ate carefully, her eyes barely ever leaving the man's face. "I'd be more afraid of going to work without Aya, and it's nice to have someone waiting when I get home."

"I'm glad. I wouldn't want to force you into anything that made you unhappy."

Brianna giggled. "I think Ken-kun already had this talk with me."

"Ken did? But he's the loudmouth!" Yohji affected to look outraged. "Upstart brat, trying to take over my job."

"I doubt you have to worry much." She refilled his water glass, sitting down again to finish her meal.

"Well, that's good to know." He reached across and caught her hand. "Is there anything you wanted to talk about?"

She blushed. "Just – um…" She gestured with her other hand, embarrassed. "Ken mentioned…ah…alternatives?"

"Ah." Yohji let her have her hand back, his facial expression neutral. "Well…there's always the usual – " He made a rude gesture with one hand, smiling at the girl's red face. "Then there's the fact that we do sleep with one another." Brianna realized that she must have looked shocked when Yohji burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, Brie-chan, but you're adorable. The four of us have a dangerous job, sweetheart. We haven't been able to let ourselves love for a very long time. We take comfort in each other – we're family by circumstance. You're the first girl we've met that we've all agreed on." His smile faded. "We're all out on the same limb, baby. Now, we're going to find out if we've laid a strong enough branch out, or if it's going to snap and send us all to hell."

"We should make it." The artist was adamant. "I want us to make it. I want to be right about you all. I want to be safe."

Yohji smiled, a real smile that reached his eyes and made him look younger. "Then we'll make it." He rose with her to clear the table and clean the kitchen. "With faith like yours, how can we not?

**_The rest of my story is, unfortunately, rated NC-17. If you are over 17/18 or are legal where you live, please visit my website for the final chapters._**

_**Thank you so much for all your encouraging reviews. I appreciate everyone who took the time to give me feedback, and I hope that you all enjoy the ending!**_


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